BJP on self introspection mode?

New Delhi, Mar 11: Jolted by its poor performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP leaders are said to be in deep contemplation on what went wrong, with some already laying the blame on poor ticket distribution, the Kushwaha factor, anti-Mayawati wave and infighting.

With Hindutva leader Uma Bharti and former general secretary (Organisation) Sanjay Joshi at the helm of affairs in the state, BJP's hopes had soared and it was expecting around 80 seats in these elections.

While Rahul Gandhi had made polls in this politically crucial state a prestige issue, even BJP President Nitin Gadkari was treating it as a test case. The latter wanted a stellar performance in UP to smoothen his ride into a second term as BJP chief.

However, things have gone horribly wrong for the right-wing party which hoped this would be a semi-final before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. UP is the most significant state politically as it sends 80 MPs to the Lower House of Parliament.

The poll debacle is likely to figure prominently in the forthcoming National Executive of the BJP, to be held tentatively in April.

The other issue to rock the conclave would be the reported sabotage by former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in the hill state. Incumbent B C Khanduri lost from Kotdwar, which came as a huge embarrassment to the party that was ousted by a thin margin.

Induction of Babu Singh Kushwaha, Mayawati's former cabinet colleague tainted in the NRHM scam, has cost the party dear with the upper caste shunning it in favour of Samajwadi Party. The decision - which was aimed at wooing the OBCs - came as a surprise as the BJP had been running a high-pitched campaign against corruption for several months.

PTI